Umesh Yadav registers career-best First-class figures

Dixit Bhargav | 24/01/2019
Umesh Yadav registers career-best First-class figures

Umesh Yadav registers career-best First-class figures: The Vidarbha fast bowler was on fire in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

During the first semi-final of the ongoing Ranji Trophy between Kerala and Vidarbha at Wayanad, Vidarbha fast bowler Umesh Yadav ran through the Kerala batting order as he registered his career-best First-class figures.

After making early inroads into the hosts’ batting lineup, Yadav didn’t provide any respite to them, picking up four wickets in his first spell. Failing to cope up against Yadav’s skills, Kerala lost half their side at the score of 40.

Yadav also made sure that he didn’t let opposition tail wag, adding unnecessary runs towards the end. Dismissing all-rounder Jajaj Saxena (7) and pacer-duo of Basil Thampi (10) and Sandeep Warrier (0) aided Yadav to pick up his second seven-wicket haul in First-class cricket.

Rajneesh Gurbani, Yadav’s new-ball opening partner, dismissed pacer MD Nidheesh (6) as Kerala were bundled out for 106 in 28.4 overs. Vishnu Vinod, who came in to bat at No. 7, top-scored for his team scoring 37* (50) with the help of one four and two sixes.

With bowling figures of 12-1-48-7, Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors. With bowling figures of 11.4-3-38-3, Gurbani provided impressive support from the other end to the senior pacer.

Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal scored his 36th First-class half-century as his team ended the day with a 65-run lead. In the 45 overs which Vidarbha played till Stumps on Day 1, they scored 171-5. Fazal remained their top-scorer after scoring 75 (142) with the help of 13 fours.

Vidharbha’s innings also saw veteran India batsman Wasim Jaffer completing 1,000 runs in this reason of Ranji Trophy. The 40-year old right-hand batsman has become only the first batsman to achieve the feat twice in his career.

Having picked up nine wickets in the previous match against Uttarakhand at Nagpur, Yadav has now 16 wickets in three innings under his belt. In a recent interview with Sportstar, Yadav had pointed out limited opportunities in limited-overs cricket for India in the recent times. The 31-year old fast bowler would be relieved to back his words with consistent performance in domestic cricket.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Ranji Trophy Umesh Yadav

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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